International research and training project funded by EU

Taija Mäkinen’s research group at IGP is part of the team that is funded by EU to study molecular mechanisms that causing vascular anomalies. The aim is to develop novel precision therapies for these handicapping diseases.

Vascular anomalies are a group of vascular diseases, characterized by an abnormal development of blood or lymphatic vessels. Symptoms are present at birth or appear in early childhood, with a severity ranging from mild to life-threatening. Regularly, no cure exists and many patients need life-long clinical management. Treatment success is often partial, leaving patients with chronic pain, dysfunction and lowered quality of life.

The four-year research and training programme V.A. Cure Network receives up to 3.7 million euros of EU funding from the MSCA-ITN programme to study in depth the genetic mutations and signalling pathways involved in vascular anomalies. The network will coach 14 PhD students in diverse aspects of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, including ethical issues and development of communication and business skills.

The group of Taija Mäkinen is one of the participants of the network. They will utilise genetic mouse models to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms and to develop treatment strategies for vascular anomalies.

“We are very excited to be part of this international network of scientists with complementary expertise that promises to provide important new insight into vascular diseases,” says Taija Mäkinen.

The other network partners are de Duve Institute (Belgium), Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research (Germany), Karolinska Institute (Sweden), University of Potsdam (Germany), University of Oulu (Finland), INSERM (France), AstraZeneca (Sweden) and FinnAdvance (Finland).

When the project starts in March 2019, it is the first time such a large international collaborative research project into vascular anomalies sets off.
 

More information:
Press release from de Duve Institute
Taija Mäkinen’s research (Link removed)

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